The Detective Up Late

The Detective Up Late by Adrian McKinity
Starred Review.

Summary: Sean Duffy is back. Sean is older mature and about to retire to a simple life. He gets called back to locate a missing girl while he is on vacation in Israel right before the New Year. When he and his team look for her the case begins to involve all sorts of strange men. Is this the last case for Sean, is this the last bomb he has to look for under his Beemer?

Comments: Number seven in the Sean Duffy series. McKinity is at his best when he writes the terrific novels. I love them. More please.

Although I've read (and loved) many of Adrian McKinty's standalone novels, this is the first time that I've read one of the 'Sean Duffy' series and it's brilliant - a masterclass in how to write a tense, pacey and atmospheric thriller that catches the reader's attention from the opening page and holds it until the final paragraph.
The story commences on New Year's Eve, 1979, just as the new decade dawns and there is hope for a brighter future for the citizens of Northern Ireland - and in particular Belfast city. Our eponymous hero has received the news that he is to become a Detective Sargent and is full of plans. Then we jump forward to New Year's Eve, 1989 and Sean in on holidays with his partner and her family. His life has changed hugely over the intervening decade and he is now a Detective Inspector, in charge of a department and about to retire, and move to Scotland. The reason for the retirement/move is due to the number of attempts on his life in recent years and in particular an attack not that long ago, on his family home where his partner (Beth) and child (Emma) were in danger. Of course this will not be a full retirement as he wishes to collect his pension from the RUC and will work seven days a month from the station.
And so he is facing into 'Duffy's Last Case, a missing person's case where a young Traveller girl has been reported missing. Many of his colleagues don't care considering that she is "just a traveller" but Duffy cares and along with Lawson and McCrabban (Crabby) he dives right in and soon our trio discover the MI5, may well be involved - along with the local paramilitaries.
Duffy is an unusual character - very self-aware, full of dry humour and inclined to narrate his circumstances. Allowing the reader to understand what drives him and his behaviour, The background of Belfast and 'The Troubles' offers the perfect, problematic background.
Now, to read the previous books in the series as I need to learn more about Sean Duffy!

Absolutely extraordinary. One of the finest detective novels I've ever read. Superb writing well worth savoring combined with a subtle, layered narrative filled with just enough twists to keep you surprised.

What really makes it work for me is the voice of Inspector Duffy: cynical, witty, self-aware, and immediate. It draws you in and binds you tightly to the narrative.

What doesn't work for me is the whole Belfast thing. I know nothing about Belfast and honestly haven't the slightest interest in it, so the local expressions and geographical explanations went right over my head. But you know what? By halfway through the book, that didn't matter. The voice of Inspector Duffy had me so caught up in the narrative that everything else faded away.

This is a wonderful detective novel. Truly.

Absolutely bloody brilliant. I don't know if this is the last Sean Duffy. If it is, my heart will be broken. But he couldn't have gone out on a higher note. Duffy and McCrabban are both taking advantage of stepping down to part time, working only seven days a month, until they are eligible for their full pensions. Their last case is a missing tinker girl, who, it turns out, is only 15 but already on the game. And with a list of clients who have a lot to lose if it comes out publically that she is a minor.

I haven’t found an Adrian McKinty book yet that I have been able to set down for the night without finishing. Another sleepless night devouring this delicious thriller, it’s a must read!

The Detective Up Late picks up the action soon after the events at the end of Police At The Station And They Don’t Look Friendly, and finds Duffy preparing to move to Scotland and a part time working arrangement at the Carrickfergus RUC where he was stationed. I won’t go into detail about the plot, as I do not want to give away some of the pivotal events at the end of the last book. Suffice to say that the story is set as New Year’s Eve rings in the beginning of the 1990s and the dawn of the new decade. Detective Inspector Sean Duffy is more than happy to slam the door on the grisly 1980s, “there had been twelve hundred Troubles-related murders in Northern Ireland over the decade”, and is clinging to the hope that the 1990s might prove more peaceful for the people of Belfast and himself.

Duffy is also looking forward to embarking on his own personal new chapter, spending more time with his longtime partner, Beth, and daughter, Emma. However, before he finishes up Duffy gets drawn into a missing person case. A fifteen-year-old Traveller girl from a seedy local caravan park has vanished without a trace. Duffy’s sense that this is more than a case of a teenage runaway, is soon confirmed when he uncovers a network of lurid middle-aged men closely connected with the girl. Fearing that every second lost could mean the case remaining unsolved, Duffy urgently tries to uncover what happened to the girl, while having to manage a high profile asset in the IRA. It may be Duffy’s last case, but it is turning out to be more dangerous and twisted than anyone expected.

The Detective Up Late contains all the elements we have come to expect from a McKinty novel. The writing is first rate, and the story commands attention from the opening pages. The plotting is tight and McKinty ably balances the action between the current missing persons case and the over-riding tension of managing an asset double crossing the IRA. There is plenty of reflection on the past, but overall the pacing is good with some very exciting set-pieces. Underlining it all is a good twisty storyline about the missing girl, that bristles with poignancy and offers a few neat surprises.

As usual, the characterisations are very strong and McKinty seems to excel in his depiction of the period, including the sense of hope that greeted the beginning of the 1990s.

McKinty’s wry sense of humour is also well on display and he peppers his story with small details and cultural references that enhance the historical feel of the novel

Overall, The Detective Up Late is a fine piece of crime fiction and is one of my favourites of the year so far. Once more McKinty sets the standard for clever, reflective novels of detection.

I'm so glad Duffy is back - though only for this last case, apparently. As a Catholic cop in the Royal Ulster Constabulary, he's right in the middle of the Troubles. He's dealing with a nervous triple agent who is high maintenance while planning to cut back to part time work as he moves his family to Scotland for their safety, and he's tackling his last case: a missing girl who nobody seems to care about. She's a traveller, so who cares? That just sends Duffy into peak stubbornness, and he's determined to find out what has happened to her.

I have loved this series. It's well plotted, full of great dialogue, and gives readers an insider view of Northern Ireland during it's most perilous moments. Though I would love to see it continue, there's a kind of resolution in this novel, with a detective at the top of his game, wondering if the 1990s might bring some relief in the violence, but at peace with his plan to pull back on his career, do just enough to collect a pension, and make sure his family is no longer going to wonder when the violence will come to their door again.

I'm glad for McKinty's sake he's been able to publish successful thrillers in the commercial mode, because he deserves to make a living with his writing, but this is so much better. I hope he'll have gained enough of an audience to write what he wants and get the accolades and sales he so richly deserves.

Adrian McKinty is one of my favorite mystery writers. This latest installment to the Sean Duffey series is one of his best. Sean is in his last days before he quietly creeps away to Scotland to live out a part time gig in Belfast until he can collect his pension from the RUC. His last case is a missing 15 year old tinker girl-someone that is not considered worthy of a deep investigation. Her life unfolds as he digs deeper. Sean is also the handler of a 3 time time spy who is nervous about being discovered by the IRA. Lots of twists in this plot. The writing and character development is exceptional.

For all of your readers who can't get enough tough-guy detective novels that feature a charismatic male detective, this newest book in the Sean Duffy series will be snapped right up! Love his attitude, his humor, his asides -- you read these as much for the personality of the detective as you do to solve the mystery. I have not read the first six in this series, but can definitely say that this one, the seventh, can stand on its own for new readers who don't want to start at the beginning.

The Detective Up Late by Adrian McKinty was a very enjoyable story.
I’ve not read the five previous titles in the series but now I’m going to.
The story was extremely atmospheric and didn't let go from the start of the action to the very last page.
This was a very good and well written read. A quick easy read. The characters were well developed and kept me entertained.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

On New Year’s Day 1990 Sean Duffy is on holiday with his partner Beth in Israel and looking forward to the new decade. After the dangers of working for Carrickfergus RUC in Belfast during the 80s, he’s decided it’s time to move on with his life and keep Beth and his young daughter Emma safe. On his return to Belfast he will move Beth and Emma to the house they’ve bought in Portpatrick in Scotland, then finish his last case as Head of CID and become a part timer for the next three and a half years so he can complete 20 years of service and retire. He’ll still be the minder for John Strong, a paranoid informer who defected from the IRA, but he'll only have to work seven days per month, so the two hour commute by ferry to Belfast won’t be too onerous.

Since he expects to be firmly planted behind a desk once he moves to part time, Sean is determined to solve what he refers to as ‘Duffy’s last case’. A 15 year old girl, Kat McAtamney, from a Traveller family has disappeared, but no one was taking the case too seriously until her car was found in the river. No body was found inside the car, but with the doors open and the rough high tides, she could have been swept out to sea.

Investigating further with his colleagues Crabbie and Lawson, Sean discovers Kat had a photoshoot with a photographer who put her in touch with three older men looking for a ‘girlfriend experience’ with a younger woman and has a strong feeling one of these men is not who they seem to be. He knows he’s on to something when the case escalates to a point where Duffy, Crabbie and Lawson are set up and targeted by a group of hitmen in an abandoned building.

This is the seventh novel in this acclaimed series and a very fine addition it is too. In keeping with the tradition with the rest of the series, the title derives from a Tom Waites song, ‘Bad as Me’ and fits perfectly. McKinty’s trademark dark sense of humour and sarcasm pervades the novel, as does his eclectic tastes in music, literature and film, which he uses to colour Duffy’s speech and tastes. Duffy’s cynical and unconventional approach to policing is what has kept him and his colleagues alive so far. Even though the times are safer, he still carries out his ritual daily check of the underside of his car for bombs, a habit that will persist, even when he is staying in Scotland.

Superbly written and tightly plotted, this is suspenseful and atmospheric with moments of very high tension action. Throughout the series, the character development has also been very strong, especially for Duffy who we’ve seen change from a young, reckless young man to a more mature, more responsible version, but still with his strong sense of justice. Duffy’s faithful colleagues ‘Crabbie’ McCrabban and Lawson are also moving on. Crabbie into part time retirement so he’ll have more time for his farm and Lawson to step up into Duffy’s shoes, something he’s not quite come to terms with yet.

Although two further novels in the series are promised, this finished on the perfect note to allow Duffy to move into a new decade and on to the next phase of his life and leaves the reader wondering if Duffy how much Duffy will change once he’s no longer living a high tension life on the mean streets of Belfast.

With thanks to Blackstone Publishing via Netgalley for a copy to read.

Most people know Adrian McKinty from his 2019 best-seller The Chain. But I've always been a fan of an older series he wrote, police procedurals set in Northern Ireland during The Troubles featuring world-weary Sean Duffy of the Royal Ulster Constabulary.

Duffy is back in The Detective Up Late, set in 1990. The Troubles seem – at long last – on the wane, though Duffy still checks under the car for mercury tilt bombs. (The Good Friday peace accord was reached in 1998.) Duffy is ready to step away from full-time policing. He's decided to work part-time in Ulster a few days a month, long enough to earn his pension, but he's moving to Scotland with his partner and young daughter.

Before he can leave, though, a missing persons case catches his interest. A 15-year-old girl has gone missing, and no one seems very interested. Perhaps that's because she's a Traveller – a member of an itinerant community that often faces discrimination.

As is always the case in Duffy novels, nothing is as simple as it seems. Duffy solves the case, but only after several twists and turns and a few vodka gimlets.

The plots of the Duffy novels are always inventive, the solutions never too obvious nor too out of left field. The real pleasure of the books are the indelible characters and sheer joy of reading McKinty's writing.

If you'd rather listen than read, the audiobooks (read by Gerard Doyle) are an absolute delight.

Folks around the Carrickfergus station label the missing teen "Duffy's last case." Dare we hope it's not?

Thanks to NetGalley for an early copy.

As much as I loved reading 'The Chain' (do read it if you haven't already, a proper edge of your seat thriller), Adrian McGinty's Sean Duffy novels are things of beauty.

This is Duffy's last case before he goes into semi-retirement and this book has it all. The one liners, plot twists, more dodgy characters than you can shake a stick at and some top notch music mentions.

Top notch entertainment.

<i>“Back to the station through the devastated streets. Past bomb sites turned into parking lots and derelict buildings and huge craters brimming with rainwater. I’m being watched by men in doors and alleyways. A peeler on his own. A tempting target. Death is close here.”</i>

The Detective Up Late is the 7th book in the Sean Duffy series. It’s set in Belfast in 1990 and it follows on quite soon after the events of Police At the Station And They Don’t Look Friendly. Duffy continues to demonstrate that he’s far from your standard peeler with his unconventional methods, sardonic wit and razor sharp mind.

<i>“I’d be forty in a little over a year and forty in Northern Ireland years was fifty everywhere else, and forty in Northern Irish-policeman years was sixty. And I was a Catholic policeman, so you can do that arithmetic yourself.”</i>

But his time in the RUC is almost up and he’s preparing to move himself, his wife and daughter to Scotland, finally agreeing that remaining in Belfast is too dangerous. But he’s staying on to finish the case he’s currently working on, passing on his wisdom and his wiles to Lawson, the man who would soon replace him.

<i>“Patience - that’s what a good copper needs. Patience in following up all the leads, patience in running through the hordes of data, patience in talking to the general public when most of them are eejits and wankers.” </i>

Kat McAtamney has gone missing in the days leading up to the new year. She’s only 15, but because she’s a Traveller there has been no urgency in looking for her. Duffy takes on the case with alacrity.

Although others believe that the case is a simple runaway because she had disappeared before, Duffy’s not having it and his doggedness is rewarded when he unearths a string of men she regularly met with. Any of these blokes could have been responsible for her disappearance or could at least provide him with information. But there’s no such thing as a straightforward missing child case and everyone’s proving tight-lipped.

Then the shooting starts and Duffy’s last Belfast case starts to look like it could jeopardise his retirement plans. He’s a fighter and always seems to come up with a plan that will squeak him through just about any scrape.

<i>“I slipped my fist into the knuckleduster. Look away now if you think Sean Duffy is the decent man who fights fair. He doesn’t fight fair. He fights very fucking unfair.”</i>

As far as the mystery itself goes, what starts out as a pretty standard type of missing person / murder case becomes a more substantial whodunnit. With a number of possible suspects, it very much becomes a game of eeny-meeny-miney-mo to challenge us into figuring out who’s guilty.

As with the previous books in the series, McKinty manages to draw you right into the story with a writing style that is both descriptive and evocative, yet sparse and direct. The plotting is tight and the characters are brought to life with a simple accented phrase that manages to place them perfectly. The tone is bang on and the dialogue perfectly defines the personality of each successive character Duffy meets.

This is more than a simple missing persons case that allows a bunch of coppers to go through their procedural pacings. There are moments of deeper introspection and reflection interspersed with some insightful commentary on societal norms, wry humour used to good effect at regular intervals. Slower, methodical moments of detective work are tempered by flashes of sparkling action to keep the pulse-rate high.

Yet another outstanding entry in the Sean Duffy series to cement Adrian McKinty as one of the finest exponents of the crime fiction genre.